I Can Explain
by I Asked Alice
Summary: Most people wouldn't bet they could explain love to a creature with no concept of it. Marx wasn't most people.


_Most people wouldn't bet they could explain love to a creature with no concept of it. Marx wasn't most people._

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I Can Explain

* * *

If he had the capability to, Zero was fairly certain he would have vomited the second he heard Marx utter those awful words:

"I love you!"

Zero had recoiled in disgust at the time. Love. That was such a terrible word. Zero hated it and everything it stood for. He was sure of the fact that he had done nothing to warrant such awful treatment. Zero shot an icy glare at Marx who promptly returned it and stuck his tongue out. Zero groaned audibly, quickly losing patience. None of this was making any amount of sense, and it was frustrating. Knowing Marx, he probably considered Zero's agony a joke.

_ "I love you!"_

What did that even mean?

"Zero, how long have to known each other?" Marx continued, interrupting Zero's train of thought.

"For a very agonizing amount of time." Zero said flatly.

"And you still don't get it, do you? Loooove, I mean." Marx laughed, drawling out that word specifically to irritate Zero. His red eye narrowed in response. His stare probably could have killed if Marx didn't derive enjoyment from other's misery.

"It is an obvious sign of disrespect. I take it as a sign that you hate me."

"Yes and no. Mostly no."

"Then no. I do not get it."

"I bet I could explain it to you." Marx smiled.

"And I bet that you're sure you bet you can."

For a moment, Marx was silent. He blinked in confusion, and then scowled when he saw the arrogant glimmer in Zero's eye. After considering it a moment, Marx wasn't even sure if that remark made sense. Deciding to ignore it, he carried on, much to Zero's chagrin.

"So, love. It's an interesting thing that absolutely everybody in the universe understands but you. They feel it, too. Mm hmm. It's really great, makes people feel great, and it also makes people really stupid. Like, really, _really_ stupid. Did you know that some people die because of it? They throw themselves right in harm's way and they die. It's true!"

"I believe that last part." Zero commented. "But that 'explanation' was terrible."

"What? No, it was perfect."

"It was not perfect, for I still do not understand what you tried to explain."

Marx's face crinkled, "Ooooh, is that what I was doing?"

"That is usually how an explanation works, yes. But I-"

"-Right, let me try that again then!"

Zero grimaced inwardly and narrowed his eye. He didn't want to continue the conversation, but he also knew that getting away from Marx would just be another horrible experience that would lead to Marx being even more annoying than he was now. If Marx wasn't a valuable ally, Zero would have murdered him.

"Sooooo, uuuum…" Marx began. "L is for… loathing."

Zero blinked in confusion and waited for Marx to continue.

"The O stands for, uh, what's a word for hate that starts with O?"

"Odium." Zero offered.

"Yeah, that. O stands for odium. V is for vehemence, and the E, oh, the E!"

The two of them remained in silence for a moment. Marx stuck out his tongue and his face screwed up in thought. Zero's eye remained locked on the him as he waited for a response.

"Yeah, I don't know what the E means." Marx cackled.

"So what you meant to say was that you hate me a lot?"

"Mmm, yes and no." Marx replied again. "Love is something different to you then it is to me, right? Right? Yeah. To you, hate is like love and love is like hate! To me, the reverse it true. That was my way of mixing our meanings together. Ha!"

"Hate is not like love." Zero spat, wincing as he spoke.

"You sure? Because I think they are. They're both these all consuming things. They both make people feel great about what they think, and it also makes people really, really stupid. People die because of these things, yeah, yeah!"

Zero stared blankly at Marx for what felt like an eternity. What he had said actually appeared to make a minor amount of sense, in Marx's obscure sort of way. Zero quickly forced the idea out of his mind, not wanting to entertain the idea that he thought of Marx as intelligent in any form. It did not make sense. Hate was not like love.

"I think I understand what you are trying to say, Marx. But if you truly with to express your reverence to me, using _that_ word is not the way to do it."

Marx smiled, flashing his fangs. "I love you."

Zero thought for a moment before responding. "Then I suppose I love you too."


End file.
